Pima Air & Space Museum features planes (and vehicles) that inspired 12 of the 14 main characters in the new Disney animated comedy adventure, Planes, including the newly unveiled F-18 Hornet/Blue Angel (Echo and Bravo), the Vought F-4U Corsair (Skipper), a Snow crop duster (Dusty), a Rutan Long-EZ (Ishani), a V-tailed Bonanza (Rochelle), even Dottie and Chug! During Night Wings, kids will be rewarded with stickers when they locate each of the real planes that inspired the characters in the movie. “The movie is amazingly accurate regarding aviation science and milestones,” commented Mina Stafford, Curator of Education, “so bring your kids to see the real planes to maximize their enthusiasm and learning.”

The Physics Factory, an outshoot of the University of Arizona Physics Phun, grabs kids’ (and adults’) attention with huge sparks, invisible forces, smoke, lasers, and other amazing phenomena making physics interesting and fun. Bruce Bayly, PhD, and Physics Factory instructor claims, “We use everyday objects in our hands-on learning stations and mentoring environments, to demystify science and to help students appreciate their amazing world.”

Plus the museum will have 12 other tables of aviation activities: impact craters, sampling space food (ice cream, YUM!), climbing in the cockpit of the Shooting Star high-speed jet trainer (mentioned in the movie), plane spotting, a coloring/drawing contest and prizes too, including a chance to win a free family membership.

These activities are in addition to the museum’s fantastic planes contrasted by the setting sun and inside almost four football fields of hangars. So join us, rain or shine! Adults only $10. Kids 12 & under are FREE. For only $4 more you can ride the tram and breeze around the 150 planes on the grounds (departure at 5:30 and 6:15 pm). Great food—burgers, salads, pizza and ice cream—will be available in The Fight Grill.

ABOUT PIMA AIR & SPACE MUSEUMBe wowed at Pima Air & Space Museum, one of the largest aviation museums in the world and the largest non-government-funded in the U.S. (TripAdvisor ranks it in the Top 10% worldwide for excellent ratings.) Its significant collection, 300 strong from around the globe, covers commercial, military and civil aviation alongside more than 125,000+ artifacts, including a moon rock donated by Tucsonan and Astronaut Frank Borman. Be amazed by many all-time great aircraft: the SR-71 Blackbird (the world’s fastest spy plane); a B-29 Superfortress (the WWII bomber that flew higher, farther and faster plus carried more bombs); the world’s smallest bi-plane; the C-54 (the Berlin Airlift’s star flown by the famous “Candy Bomber” Col. USAF (Ret.) Gail Halvorsen, a Tucson-area winter resident); plus planes used as renowned-contemporary-artists’ canvases, including Brazilian graffiti artist Nunca. Explore five large hangars totaling more than 177,000 indoor square feet—almost four football fields¬—of air/space craft, heroes’ stories and scientific phenomena. Two+ hangars are dedicated to WWII, one each to the European and Pacific theaters. Pima Air & Space maintains its own aircraft restoration center. It also operates exclusive tours of the “Boneyard,” aka the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) on Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, plus offers a docent-led tram tour of its 80 acres (additional fees apply). Pima Air & Space Museum is located at 6000 E. Valencia Rd., just off I-10 exit 267, in Tucson. More information can be found at www.pimaair.org, on Facebook www.facebook.com/PimaAirAndSpace, or by calling 520 574-0462.

"KITTY HAWK" THE WRIGHT BROTHER FILM AIRING MONDAY AT THE PIMA AIR & SPACE MUSEUM!

Tucson, AZ–Aug. 16, 2013. To commemorate National Aviation Day (Orville Wright’s birthday on Aug. 19), Pima Air & Space Museum will serve FREE birthday cake Monday and show the official Wright Brothers’ National Memorial film “Kitty Hawk: the Wright Brothers’ Journey of Invention.” The 115-minute movie, depicting how the Wrights developed the first successful “heavier-than-air” flying machine, features the voices of Neil Armstrong and John Glenn as Orville and Wilbur Wright. This “gripping tale of hardship, perseverance and spectacular triumph,” according to the jacket cover, will be shown at 10am and 1pm in the Dorothy Finley Space Gallery Education Room. The DVD will also be available for purchase during the month of August in the Pima Air & Space Museum Store. “We are thrilled to be collaborating with the Wright Brothers’ National Memorial to show the beginning of aviation,” stated Mina Stafford, Curator of Education at the Pima Air & Space Museum. “It’s amazing how two Midwestern bicycle mechanics with no formal training accomplished this world-changing feat,” she continued. Pima Air & Space Museum displays a replica of the Wright Flyer complete with a manikin to demonstrate the hip-controlled yaw (aka lateral motion/rudder), key to the Flyer’s and the Wright’s Brothers’ success.

Other “included in the price of admissions” special National Aviation Day activities are an open cock pit/photo op (the T-33) and FREE birthday cake (limited quantities, first-come-first served) in Flight Grill. Arizona Aerospace Foundation members will receive an unprecedented extra 10% off in the museum shop on Aug. 19th only (for a total of 20% savings, even on summer clearance items!).

ABOUT PIMA AIR & SPACE MUSEUMBe wowed at Pima Air & Space Museum, one of the largest aviation museums in the world and the largest non-government-funded in the U.S. (TripAdvisor ranks it in the Top 10% worldwide for excellent ratings.) Its significant collection, 300 strong from around the globe, covers commercial, military and civil aviation alongside more than 125,000+ artifacts, including a moon rock donated by Tucsonan and Astronaut Frank Borman. Be amazed by many all-time great aircraft: the SR-71 Blackbird (the world’s fastest spy plane); a B-29 Superfortress (the WWII bomber that flew higher, farther and faster plus carried more bombs); the world’s smallest bi-plane; the C-54 (the Berlin Airlift’s star flown by the famous “Candy Bomber” Col. USAF (Ret.) Gail Halvorsen, a Tucson-area winter resident); plus planes used as renowned-contemporary-artists’ canvases, including Brazilian graffiti artist Nunca. Explore five large hangars totaling more than 177,000 indoor square feet—almost four football fields¬—of air/space craft, heroes’ stories and scientific phenomena. Two+ hangars are dedicated to WWII, one each to the European and Pacific theaters. Pima Air & Space maintains its own aircraft restoration center. It also operates exclusive tours of the “Boneyard,” aka the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) on Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, plus offers a docent-led tram tour of its 80 acres (additional fees apply). Pima Air & Space Museum is located at 6000 E. Valencia Rd., just off I-10 exit 267, in Tucson. More information can be found at www.pimaair.org, on Facebook www.facebook.com/PimaAirAndSpace, or by calling 520 574-0462.

Note: The 390th Bombardment Group (Heavy) Memorial Museum, located on the Pima Air & Space Museum grounds, is closed for reconstruction until further notice.

WITH THE BRITISH IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM, PIMA AIR & SPACE UNVEILS THE "HIND" SOVIET HELICOPTER, THEIR FIRST FOREIGN CHOPPER.

Tucson, AZ–Aug. 5, 2013. The Arizona Aerospace Foundation and the Imperial War Museum of England have unveiled a unique, Soviet-design helicopter at the Pima Air & Space Museum: the MIL Mi-24 Hind-D helicopter. The historic helicopter is on permanent loan from the Imperial War Museum. The successful partnership involved conquering the major endeavors of negotiation, dismantling and shipping the Mi-24 Hind helicopter across the world to Tucson, AZ. After reassembly and restoration, the helicopter is currently on display. This “import” is unlike any Western helicopter and is currently the only non-American helicopter in the Pima Air & Space Museum’s collection.

The MIL Mi-24 Hind-D, serial number B4002, was born in the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and delivered to the East German Air Force around 1977. Also known as the “Hind,” it served on an East German flying unit that was based at Cottbus Air Base during the reunification of Germany in 1990. The helicopter was taken into service with the reunified German Air Force and given the number 96+21. By 1993, Germany was disposing of most of its Soviet-built aircraft, and the B4002 was donated to the Imperial War Museum in the United Kingdom. It was put on display in Duxford until last year when the museum began collaboration with the Pima Air & Space Museum to bring the helicopter to Tucson. Its current markings are “East German Air Force, 1990.”

“We are pleased to collaborate with the Imperial War Museum and bring this unique aircraft to America,” Scott Marchand, Director of Collections and Restoration, of the Pima Air & Space Museum said. He continued, “This helicopter is unlike any Western helicopter ever built, so it’s an intriguing contrast to the museum’s other helicopters.”

The Hind was built to pull double duty by combining the features of a heavily armed and armored helicopter gunship with the troop carrying capability of a light-assault helicopter. In 1970, production and deployment of the helicopter to Soviet forces began. It was also widely sold to the Soviet Union’s allies. The Hind first saw combat in 1977 in Ethiopia during its war with Somalia. The helicopter gained stardom during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan during the 1980s. The Hind proved difficult to shoot down, and its combat prowess helped lead the United States into supplying direct military aid to the Afghans. The Hind has managed to survive the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, and is still in service in the Russian military and 30 other countries.

ABOUT PIMA AIR & SPACE MUSEUMBe wowed at Pima Air & Space Museum, one of the largest aviation museums in the world and the largest non-government-funded in the U.S. Its significant collection, 300 strong from around the globe, covers commercial, military and civil aviation alongside more than 125,000+ artifacts, including a moon rock donated by Tucsonan and Astronaut Frank Borman. Be amazed by many all-time great aircraft: the SR-71 Blackbird (the world’s fastest spy plane); a B-29 Superfortress (the WWII bomber that flew higher, farther and faster plus carried more bombs); the world’s smallest bi-plane; the C-54 (the Berlin Airlift’s star flown by the famous “Candy Bomber” Col. USAF (Ret.) Gail Halvorsen, a Tucson-area winter resident); plus planes used as renowned-contemporary-artists’ canvases, including Brazilian graffiti artist Nunca. Explore five large hangars totaling more than 177,000 indoor square feet—almost four football fields¬—of air/space craft, heroes’ stories and scientific phenomena including the largest paper airplane (our work). Two+ hangars are dedicated to WWII, one each to the European and Pacific theaters. Pima Air & Space even maintains its own aircraft restoration center. The museum also operates exclusive tours of the “Boneyard,” aka the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) on Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, plus offers a docent-led tram tour of its 80 acres (additional fees apply). Pima Air & Space Museum is located at 6000 E. Valencia Rd., just off I-10 exit 267, in Tucson. More information can be found at www.pimaair.org, on Facebook www.facebook.com/PimaAirAndSpace, or by calling 520 574-0462.

Note: The 390th Bombardment Group (Heavy) Memorial Museum is closed for reconstruction until further notice.

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Attachments: photos by John Bezosky

The fully restored MIL Mi-24 Hind-D Helicopter

Hind Mi-24 during the restoration process carried out by Pima Air & Space Museum staff and volunteers

PIMA AIR & SPACE MUSEUM UNVEILS SLEEK BLUE ANGEL F-18 HORNET

The Hornet was developed in the mid-1970s as a replacement for the F-4 Phantom and the A-7 Corsair that were then in use by the U.S. Navy and Marines as ground attack aircraft. The F/A-18 was derived from the YF-17 that had competed for the U.S. Air Force contract that resulted in the F-16 Fighting Falcon. The YF-17 was redesigned to add more fuel, folding wings, and strengthened landing gear among other changes to adapt it for use from aircraft carriers. The first production versions of the Hornet went into service with the Navy and Marines in 1983. Most of the early F/A-18A Hornets have been retired but some continue to fly with Navy and Marine training squadrons. The F/A-18C and the newest F/A-18E and F Super Hornets are the primary fighters and attack aircraft for the US Navy and Marines. Hornets have been sold to several foreign nations including Australia, Canada, Spain, Switzerland, Finland, Kuwait, and Malaysia.

The F/A-18 was adopted by the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels aerial demonstration team in 1986 and still is flying today. It has now served with the team for 26 years. That makes it the longest serving aircraft type to fly with the Navy’s aerial demonstration team.

The plane, a model caricaturized by two of Disney’s main characters—Echo and Bravo— in the new animated movie, “Planes,” is placed prominently in the row of U.S. Naval Fighters (enabling Flight Grill restaurant patrons to admire it while dining).

James Stemm, Pima Air & Space Museum Curator of Collections, commented, “We have been working long and hard to secure the F/A-18A. It truly enhances our collection. We are grateful to our partners, the U.S. Navy, for this aircraft.”

Current Markings: U.S. Navy Blue Angels, 2012

Service History:Built by McDonnell-Douglas Aircraft, St. Louis, Missouri and delivered to the U.S. Navy. (Service history not yet available.)

ABOUT PIMA AIR & SPACE MUSEUMBe wowed at Pima Air & Space Museum, one of the largest aviation museums in the world and the largest non-government-funded in the U.S. Its significant collection, 300 strong from around the globe, covers commercial, military and civil aviation alongside more than 125,000+ artifacts, including a moon rock donated by Tucsonan and Astronaut Frank Borman. Be amazed by many all-time great aircraft: the SR-71 Blackbird (the world’s fastest spy plane); a B-29 Superfortress (the WWII bomber that flew higher, farther and faster plus carried more bombs); the world’s smallest bi-plane; the C-54 (the Berlin Airlift’s star flown by the famous “Candy Bomber” Col. USAF (Ret.) Gail Halvorsen, a Tucson-area winter resident); plus planes used as renowned-contemporary-artists’ canvases, including Brazilian graffiti artist Nunca. Explore five large hangars totaling more than 177,000 indoor square feet—almost four football fields¬—of air/space craft, heroes’ stories and scientific phenomena including the largest paper airplane (our work). Two+ hangars are dedicated to WWII, one each to the European and Pacific theaters. Pima Air & Space even maintains its own aircraft restoration center. The museum also operates exclusive tours of the “Boneyard,” aka the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) on Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, plus offers a docent-led tram tour of its 80 acres (additional fees apply). Pima Air & Space Museum is located at 6000 E. Valencia Rd., just off I-10 exit 267, in Tucson. More information can be found at www.pimaair.org, on Facebook www.facebook.com/PimaAirAndSpace, or by calling 520 574-0462.

SEE THE REAL PLANES FROM DISNEY'S PLANES AT THE PIMA AIR & SPACE MUSEUM!

Tucson, AZ–Jul. 31, 2013. Get “up close and personal” with the planes that inspired the characters of Disney’s Planes at the Pima Air & Space Museum. Visitors can also enter for a chance to win a family 4-pack of tickets to Disney’s Planes’ VIP Advanced Screening at the AMC Foothills Theater on Aug. 6, 2013. (Act quickly! Entry deadline is Sun., Aug. 4, 2013. Paid admission to the museum is not required to enter the contest.)

Visitors can examine and learn about the real-life counterparts that inspired Disney’s Planes’ characters, such as the supersonic F-18 Hornet (new at the museum) that resembles two characters Bravo and Echo and the Vought F4U Corsair that’s a shoo-in for Skipper. The museum “identifies with” 12 of the movie’s 14 main characters portrayed in the trailer, including:

On the museum’s tram tour look out for the forklift and tanker truck that inspired Dottie and Chug, respectively, but be forewarned, Dottie’s a workin’ gal and may be hard at work elsewhere on the museum grounds. A comparison sheet with the characters and details on the Pima Air & Space’s planes is being distributed at the museum. The look-alikes are located throughout the museum (indoors and out) and are designated by Disney Planes movie posters.

There are 2 ways to enter the contest for tickets to the advanced screening. 1. email planes@pimaair.org before midnight Aug. 4, 2013, or 2. come to the museum and fill in an entry form in the Museum Store. Entrants must be 18 years old to enter and be available to arrive at the AMC Foothills Theater at 6pm on Aug. 6th for the 7pm show. The Pima Air & Space Museum is open daily from 9am to 5pm with last admittance at 4pm. The new lower adult-admission fee to the museum for Pima County residents is $12.25.

“We are already noting an increase in aviation interest,” commented Mina Stafford, Curator of Education, “It’s a great opportunity to teach the scientific principles of flight and the aspects that differentiate each of the plane designs, building on the kids’ enthusiasm. Plus, it’s fun!” A special “Find the Disney ‘Planes’ Planes” scavenger hunt (featuring stickers!!!) will be featured at the museum’s season finale Night Wings summer-evening event on Sat., Aug. 24th (5 to 9pm, with reduced admissions: $10 for adults, kids 12 & under FREE).

ABOUT THE MOVIEFrom above the world of “Cars” comes “Disney’s Planes,” an action-packed 3D animated comedy adventure featuring Dusty (voice of Dane Cook), a plane with dreams of competing as a high-flying air racer. But Dusty’s not exactly built for racing—and he happens to be afraid of heights. So he turns to a seasoned naval aviator who helps Dusty qualify to take on the defending champ of the race circuit. Dusty’s courage is put to the ultimate test as he aims to reach heights he never dreamed possible, giving a spellbound world the inspiration to soar. “Disney’s Planes” takes off in theaters on Aug. 9, 2013.www.Disney.com/Planeswww.Facebook.com/DisneyPlaneswww.Twitter.com/DisneyPicture

ABOUT PIMA AIR & SPACE MUSEUMBe wowed at Pima Air & Space Museum, one of the largest aviation museums in the world and the largest non-government-funded in the U.S. (TripAdvisor ranks it in the Top 10% worldwide for excellent ratings.) Its significant collection, 300 strong from around the globe, covers commercial, military and civil aviation alongside more than 125,000+ artifacts, including a moon rock donated by Tucsonan and Astronaut Frank Borman. Be amazed by many all-time great aircraft: the SR-71 Blackbird (the world’s fastest spy plane); a B-29 Superfortress (the WWII bomber that flew higher, farther and faster plus carried more bombs); the world’s smallest bi-plane; the C-54 (the Berlin Airlift’s star flown by the famous “Candy Bomber” Col. USAF (Ret.) Gail Halvorsen, a Tucson-area winter resident); plus planes used as renowned-contemporary-artists’ canvases, including Brazilian graffiti artist Nunca. Explore five large hangars totaling more than 177,000 indoor square feet—almost four football fields¬—of air/space craft, heroes’ stories and scientific phenomena. Two+ hangars are dedicated to WWII, one each to the European and Pacific theaters. Pima Air & Space maintains its own aircraft restoration center. It also operates exclusive tours of the “Boneyard,” aka the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) on Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, plus offers a docent-led tram tour of its 80 acres (additional fees apply). Pima Air & Space Museum is located at 6000 E. Valencia Rd., just off I-10 exit 267, in Tucson. More information can be found at www.pimaair.org, on Facebook www.facebook.com/PimaAirAndSpace, or by calling 520 574-0462.

Note: The 390th Bombardment Group (Heavy) Memorial Museum, located on the Pima Air & Space Museum grounds, is closed for reconstruction until further notice.